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By Root 237 0

I’m not sure I recognise – sliding doors in frames shaped like keyholes, triangular windows…’ He pointed to the green square of grass at the centre of the village; the children were playing some complex game with bats and balls, under the watchful eye of a trader who’d set up a stall. ‘Look at that quickly and you’d think we were in the Cotswolds, look back at those mountains and you’d swear we were in the Andes.’

‘What’s your point?’

‘I’m not sure,’ admitted the Doctor. He glanced at Saul, some feet ahead of them. He gave no sign of listening in on their conversation, though he did glance over his shoulder from time to time to check they were still there.

‘Another thing,’ continued the Doctor. ‘This place seems absolutely isolated, and yet… No one’s staring at us. No one’s suspicious or frightened. I haven’t even flashed the old psychic paper yet!’ He drummed his fingers against his cheeks, thinking out loud. ‘S’ppose it explains one thing, though,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘That bigjumble of readings we got back on the Castor,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s not one creature, but hundreds – every person in the village, every cow in the field, every bear in the forest – all rolled into one. No wonder the poor computer couldn’t make sense of it!’

‘What you said about this place not really existing,’ said Martha. ‘Do you mean that?’

‘Did we see a chunk of planet on the TARDIS scanners when we looked at the research centre?’ reasoned the Doctor. ‘Was any of this here when we first explored?’

‘We could be the ones who are mistaken,’ said Martha. ‘I mean, the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside. Why not a spaceship that works the same way?’

‘Lots of reasons,’ said the Doctor. ‘And when you open the outer door, the control room is always there.’ He paused. ‘Well, nine times out of ten,’ he added in a whisper.

‘Sorry?’

‘The inside of the TARDIS,’ said the Doctor more loudly. ‘It isn’t switched on and off like a light in a fridge.’

‘And this place was?’

‘Seems that way,’ said the Doctor. ‘We left the TARDIS in a deserted corridor, and returned to find a door leading to a forest. Draw your own conclusions!’

‘But this seems so real,’ said Martha. ‘We’ve walked for miles. I can smell someone cooking dinner. That man over there is repairing the tiles on his roof…’

‘Dreams seem real enough, when you’re asleep.’

‘Dreams don’t seem to have real people in them, going about their lives. I just think we should tread carefully, that’s all.’

The Doctor nodded slowly. He seemed intrigued by her reaction. It was as if, from time to time, he needed a compass to live his life by – and a human one at that.

Moments later they stopped outside the ceremonial building at the heart of the Village. Saul began to ascend the steps.

‘Wait here,’ he said. ‘I will tell Petr that you have arrived.’

‘So,’ said Petr, settling down in a vast wooden chair and indicating that the Doctor and Martha should also sit. ‘My brother tells me you don’t think any of us exist?’

‘No, I don’t mean that,’ said the Doctor, trying to be diplomatic. ‘But I’m pretty sure none of this…’ With a broad wave of his hands he indicated the meeting room, the building itself, the village beyond. ‘None of this existed earlier today.’

The leader seemed amused rather than outraged. He was a tall man, not as well built as Saul, but wiry and supple. He had piercing eyes and a pronounced Adam’s apple that bobbed as he spoke, as if underlining the importance of his words. If he was disturbed by the very thought of his own unreality, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

He leant forward to look at the Doctor more closely, absent-mindedly running a hand through his dark, unruly hair. ‘And yet we clearly exist now, or you would not waste your time talking to us. What is your evidence for this startling claim…?’

The Doctor sighed. ‘It’s hard to explain. You’ll have to trust us.’

‘Forgive me if I don’t,’ said Petr. ‘We have lived in this valley for hundreds of years. We have written